How open are the wireless networks?

AT&T claims its network has been open for years, which in many ways is true. SIM cards can be changed out of various devices, but AT&T still charges for specific services at specific rates. E-mail users are charged a higher rate than other 3G users, and AT&T still requires contracts on all of its new subscriptions. Customers can download any application and access any Web site, which makes it the most open operator on the market today. But it doesn’t actively encourage non-approved devices on the network and still links service to a specific device and contract.

Sprint has promised its new WiMAX network will be open to all devices and is encouraging device-makers to use their imaginations. Sprint won’t be charging one set rate for access to the network but rather determining rates based on usage. It has, however, indicated it likes the idea of a multidevice subscription, in which users are assessed a monthly charge for the WiMAX connection regardless of what device they use. On the 3G side, Sprint is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, the Google-led group promoting the Android operating system. Android promises to make the network application-agnostic.

Verizon Wireless has committed to opening its 3G network and future LTE network to outside devices and applications this year. In order to get onto the network though, a developer or device-maker must first meet VZW’s basic threshold for connectivity. The operator is expected to reveal more of what those testing guidelines are at a developers’ conference in March.